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The Daily Breeze was named winner of the 2015 National Headliner Award for Investigative Journalism for work covering the Centinela Valley Union High School District. From left, City Editor Frank Suraci, reporter Rob Kuznia and reporter Rebecca Kimitch. (Robert Casillas / Staff Photographer)

The Daily Breeze has won the prestigious National Headliner Award for Investigative Journalism, one of the oldest and most respected prizes in journalism.

Reporters Rob Kuznia and Rebecca Kimitch and project editor Frank Suraci were honored this week for their investigation into the Centinela Valley Union High School District, which exposed former Superintendent Jose Fernandez’s excessive salary and unusual perks as well as several other serious issues within the district and its leadership.

The series led to Fernandez’s firing and investigations by the FBI, the District Attorney’s Office and Los Angeles County Office of Education. The probes are still underway.

The National Headliner Awards were launched in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City. They honor the best work in American journalism annually.